(Image: CHS)
Four people were reported injured in an overnight shooting at Broadway at Pike and officers scrambled amid more gunfire as they investigated the scene. The shooting happened outside the fences of the Capitol Hill Block Party and hours after the second day of the festival.
Seattle Police said it was investigating a shooting but did not immediately provide additional details. UPDATE: SPD confirmed four shooting victims in its investigation and said the shooting came during an “illegal street racing event” that took shape at the intersection.
According to East Precinct and emergency radio updates, around 20 shots were reported just before 4 AM Sunday around the still-crowded area of Broadway and Pike.
Tape and evidence markers were still in place after dawn Sunday (Image: CHS)
SPD and Seattle Fire were responding to shooting victims at Broadway and Pike and another reported near Broadway and Howell. There were conflicting reports of between two to four people shot at Broadway and Pike including one reported 17-year-old female who had been shot in the leg. A man was also shot in the leg. Another victim at Broadway and Pike, a woman in her 40s, was reported shot in the head in the gunfire. SFD reported transporting two people to Harborview while a third was taken to the hospital by a private ambulance. About 15 minutes after the shooting, another person reportedly shot in the melee arrived at Harborview.
Police were searching for a suspect reported fleeing the area and at least one vehicle reported speeding from the scene. Multiple vehicles were also reported to have been stolen according to a 911 report that came in during the shooting response, according to East Precinct radio.
More gunfire rang out in the area 20 minutes after the initial shooting. Seattle Police rushed to the area around Harvard and Pike and reported at least six people detained. There were no additional reported injuries following the second shooting incident and no reported arrests.
Police had already been busy at the intersection earlier Sunday as nightlife crowds gathered to watch “sideshow” activities with drivers spinning donuts and peeling out on the busy street.
The street racing was caught on the SDOT traffic camera at the intersection
UPDATE: Police say they started to attempt to disperse the crowds first reported around 1:30 AM but “were met with resistance.”
“Officers remained in the area to respond to life-safety events,” SPD reports.
SPD says it is not yet identified any suspects and asked anyone with information to call its Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.
Officers were still on the scene and had the area cordoned off with police tape as evidence markers were placed near shell casings around Broadway and Pike past dawn.
The Block Party’s gates were scheduled to open for Sunday’s third day at 1 PM as police continued to collect evidence and tape off the area around the shooting west of the festival’s main stage.
The intersection was the scene of a homicide earlier this month in an overnight stabbing caught on a city traffic camera that left a 45-year-old dead.
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Police say they started to attempt to disperse the crowds first reported around 1:30 AM but “were met with resistance.”
Gang style, or ACAB style. Guess it ultimately doesnt matter.
The police weren’t able to gain control of the situation because they did not have enough officers, they are not allowed to use crowd control measures, the hostile crowd made the risks to them and others unacceptably high, state law prohibits police pursuit, and racers know they can get away with it because of all the above. There were no good options. Defunding, demoralizing, demonizing and delegitimizing the police has led to this dangerous moment. I don’t want to live in a society where the police use excessive force on people of color, nor do I want to live in a community of lawlessness. We need to find a balance with policing. The pendulum swung too far to the left over the last few years in progressive cities and we are now experiencing the consequences. It is time for a course correction. Thankfully there is an important local election coming up. Please vote for more moderate and pragmatic candidates to get the city back on track and save the revolutionary powder for fighting the right on the national stage.
hey I agree with you on some points but I don’t buy that it was either do nothing or gas the crowd. And come on, what pursuit, these fools didn’t run a red light, they were doing donuts for 20 minutes. They can’t bottle in a notorious road safety issue when one of the streets is already a dead end? Embarrassing!
there’s simply no way that the single biggest crowd and draw for shady shit happens and SPD doesn’t have a few extras pulling overtime there. No one is saying they should be loading up the rubber bullets. I said elsewhere in this thread I have been there when they moved crowds on with a couple cars moving slow, lights and sirens, etc, people get the picture. Who wants to party 10 ft from a cop anyway. Yeah you can’t ask nicely from a block off, because people don’t respect the police here and for good reason imo. But there are intermediate steps between sitting there and blowing shit up.
Don’t give me that “swung too far to the left” talk though. This has been a problem long before we had socialist city council members, and not just in Seattle either. The police didn’t start to be a problem when we started electing leftist leaders. They started to be a problem when we held them accountable, which coincidentally was around the time everyone started carrying cameras around in their pockets. Cops seem to have the same problems everywhere whether people are “defunding” them (which didn’t happen) or not. So miss me with that pragmatic moderate shit. Time’s past for that.
Another vote for moderates right here. It’s a good thing the cops were never defunded or intersection donuts would be far more regular. Even if the cops let it happen, I’m not totally sure I have an issue with it. Capitol Hill is ACAB central, and maybe it’s time people reconsider the knee-jerk mantra that pretended we don’t need a force authority around because humans are sometimes dumb and violent. Show me a city that acknowledges this and perhaps you’ll get proactive cops. As it stands, they what … let a mob do donuts for an hour? It’s not like donuts inherently lead to murder. If one was a cop (yeah, I know, what non-bastard would be a cop?) how would one know a shooting was about to happen? Capitol Hill demanded a more permissive police force. Capitol Hill got a more permissive police force. Don’t like it? Leave, or vote for rationality and measured responses.
Ah yes it’s a good thing we never, for example, moved OPA to a civilian responsibility. That would really embolden the street racers.
You don’t know what defunding actually means.
OPA does have a civilian director, and it’s investigators are in part civilians. Are you saying that the “defund the police” movement was a success? Because the effort, which most defined as a 50% reduction in budget, ended with a grand total of a 17% reduction, mostly from moving parking cops to SDOT and pulling 911 operations away from the SPD. Now 911 calls are poorly handled and the PD is demoralized and having a hell of a time staffing. I mean, who would want to police this city. Like really, who? Every citizen in this town should be glad anyone wants the job at all.
I can’t tell what your argument is, but how ’bout you present one that doesn’t involve simply trying to diminish the understanding of someone you don’t agree with.
This illegal street racing event (sounded more like “making donuts” for how long each squeal sounded) went on for an hour (+ or -) just blocks away from the D3 police station! WTactualF SPD?
“Met with resistance”…clown code for we didn’t know wtf to do and there were too many people to shoot and we weren’t prepared to gas everyone.
Just wondering how you’d disperse a crowd that didn’t want to be dispersed? Crowds are now embolden by the fact that the police know that any reaction is likely to result in video of social media. Their hands are tied. Yes, I’m sure you’ll say that’s good, because then they can’t beat anyone. But from a public safety standpoint, how do you suggest they disperse the crowd? Get everyone’s mom to call them to come home and to be nice?
“Police say they started to attempt to disperse the crowds first reported around 1:30 AM but “were met with resistance.”
The police blocked traffic from entering the area but essentially enabled the illegal “sideshow” without any attempt to disrupt it. At 2AM, the atmosphere was chaotic and there were cops blocking traffic at Pine/Broadway, Union/Broadway, and Pike/Harvard, creating a safe arena for TikTok car donut nut jobs to do tricks in front of drunk bystanders. Please remove this quote from the article because the police did nothing to stop the incredibly dangerous atmosphere which festered for another 2 hours leading up to senseless violence.
Well, this is what many people want from the police here. Enable, do not arrest, lest they come in contact with a group they are not supposed yo contact. Does it feel like lawlessness? Yup.
really? how so? Beating on people? No
Arresting for crimes? Yes
Your statement has no facts bro
whatever… damned if they do, damned if they don’t… I’m sure they did try to disperse the crowd, but it’s clear how far asking nicely gets you. If they’d done it, gone in made people leave, arrested folks, there’d be people all over here crying and moaning about how horrible and violent the police were.
They DID NOT TRY. Not even a little bit. I got it on video. They did nothing.
That’s cool but you should back that statement with the video
True. I hope more people will understand that and wake up already.
Yeah, I am not inclined to believe the police version of events, given the complete lack of response I received from them when I called 911 earlier this year. The East Precinct is so inept, it seems they are intent on punishing the neighborhood for CHOP, and I hope their handling of this incident is investigated.
Sure hope “defund the police” has never come out of your mouth.
that’s what I saw…I couldn’t sleep so I filmed everything. The cops did NOTHING…Not even an ATTEMPT as they lied about. There was an audience.
Told the female and male officers on Pike and Harvard that people are about to get seriously hurt if they don’t intervene as fights were breaking out amid swerving cars in front of smashed bystanders. He said “I don’t have time for this, fuck off,” while they were leaning against the hood of the car enabling this situation.
Highly doubt your little story is accurate.
I’ll take “things that didn’t happen” for $1200, Alex.
Police tear gassed the entire neighborhood when people were protesting, but just stood around watched when idiots with guns were driving recklessly?
There is probably a lot of cellphone footage of this. People tend to film illegal car events. I wonder whether it will be shared with the police.
I filmed it…Them standing around for over and hour watching it. Yelling “Disperse 2-3 times and never moved to “disperse”…It was a joke
So these people come to a party to shoot random people for fun? None of the victims knew who shot them?
They are called sideshows because only clowns are entertained.
The cops did nothing. No attempt to “disperse”. Nothing that could even be construed. I’d sue the living crap outta the cops if I was a victim. They let it happen. This is the new attitude. They will not show up unless it’s a violent crime. If it’s not? They don’t show. That’s pretty much the line.
People are out here doing donuts in the rainbow crosswalks. Nowhere else. I’ve always wondered if it was a hate crime. Or out of all the intersections in the world, these are prime for whatever reason.
The cops are disappointingly cowards. Afraid to get their hands dirty.
publish it. if the cops were just sitting back that’s important to show. these clowns in the cars were putting people in serious danger, and the decision not to do anything concrete about it arguably led to the violence after.
If you’re close enough to a tire shred, you’re kind of getting what you’re asking for. You are a willing participant in your own obvious fate. These clowns were only endangering other clowns until the gun came out. Were the cops supposed to assume that clown cars lead to gun violence?
Sideshows have been happening all over Seattle for several years. Belltown is another hotspot. Nothing to do with the rainbow crosswalks or hate, everything to do with nightlife and crowds.
That said, you should upload/post a link to the video. I’m sure many on here would like to see SPD’s response.
Let’s see the video.
I always feel like if I get up to 20mph on Broadway or Pike that I’m lucky, and some a$$hats come here to race?
They weren’t racing lol. They were doing donuts. But hey, when kids are around twenty is plenty!
Scenario #1: Police move in to disperse crowd, realize it would take overwhelming force to do so, and decide to contain the illegal behavior, instead.
Scenario #2: Police move in the disperse crowd and do so with overwhelming force, resulting in injuries to police and bystanders.
If you can, in good faith, actually crop on the police for NOT taking option #2, I question your good faith.
Yeah the really “contained the illegal behavior”. Tell that to the four gunshot victims.
Come on, this is a false dichotomy. No “overwhelming force” is needed. I’ve been around when the cops have cleared crowds like this, and at that very intersection. The precinct is right there with 5-6 cars sitting around. They can roll up from a couple directions, lights on, hit the sirens a few times and move in at 3 MPH. People get the message and move on.
That said, given what we’ve seen from police in Seattle in the past, it’s also possible they conceive of response as either “ask politely” or “deploy tear gas and riot gear.” So perhaps you’re right after all.
You’re describing their pitiful mentality and inability to function as a public safety organization perfectly. This is what happened downtown in Mardi Gras many years ago. The police didn’t know what to do so they sat around while hundreds of women were sexually assaulted, men were beating the shit out of each other and one dude literally was stomped to death.
There’s more than the 2 options you laid out above. And if there’s not, wtf are we spending so much money on them for?
The event should be canceled today. Also, real great police work guys. You had no problem dispersing a non-violent crowd during the protests, did you?
How is the block party not canceled today. These troublemakers that come into town are just gonna start shit again.
Does anyone know if there is video footage of the racing?
Did the police take any action?
Grow up folks Seattle is a big city now and this is how young people kick it. Whether it’s Brooklyn or Oakland or Chicago or LA it’s all about performance and thrills. I noticed some of you griping were out filming so just relax and enjoy the show. I’ve lived on CapHill since ’91 – just roll with it the crime situation is not unbearable here. Houston TX where I lived earlier was WAY WORSE. The cops were obviously overwhelmed and managed as best they could. The shootings are inexcusable and gun crimes need to be harshly enforced with stiff prison sentences for violaters.
Yes, Seattle is a bigger city now, but I am tired of people like you saying that this means we must just normalize and accept many forms of law-breaking and violence. We do not!
“people like you”
Seriously. If people want to do this for fun, at least go to a vacant parking lot somewhere. Not the middle of one of the busiest intersections in Capitol Hill when a lot of nightlife is out and about.
Bring in the sheriff or national guard then if SPD is gonna sit on the sidelines and eat donuts. This police chief is a joke. So is the council the enablers.
Trying to understand timelines. Did the sideshows start at Pike and Broadway at 1:30 am? Did this continue until 4 am when the shootings happened? Trying to figure out what happened between those 2 and a half hours.
I recall that before the pandemic, there was some discussion that perhaps this event (which is, let’s be honest, a full-blown music festival, not a block party) should be moved to a roomier, less volatile location, perhaps Volunteer Park. I don’t know why that didn’t happen with the festival’s post-pandemic resumption, which seemed the perfect opportunity to start afresh somewhere new. But I think it’s surely time for that discussion to resume in earnest.
This has nothing to do with the block party. The street racing has been going on pretty frequently independently of that for at least 5 years.
What did you expect patrol officers to do with an uncooperative crowd that significantly outnumbered them? They aren’t allowed to use tear gas or pepper spray to disperse uncooperative crowds (if you’re an individual citizen though, you can use pepper spray). The officers would have needed to wade into the crowd, contact a few uncooperative individuals, take them to the ground, cuff them, and extract them from the crowd. Of course, witnesses would complain about the violence inherent in the system. The only other safe option is to ask nicely, “Please disperse, this is an illegal gathering/event”. This is our liberal city, as you wish.
Illegal event?.. Street racing?… Doesn’t Seattle have traffic cameras paid for to catch people/cars breaking laws. How can these “events” be allowed to happen if cameras capture the vehicles and licence plates?
They don’t have license plates (if you were about to do this, would you leave the license plates on your car?)
Street cams can’t effectively be used to prosecute. Ever read the back of your speeding ticket? There’s a “declaration of non-responsibility” that you simply have to sign saying that you were not in control of your vehicle and the city can do nothing about it, and this is a good thing, unless you want to live in a dystopian hell where your actions are monitored and enforced by technology.
SPD standing to the side and gawking at cars doing donuts and burnouts is so emblematic of their ineffectiveness…
It’s almost like they are shrugging their shoulders Matt. Sound familiar?
Sounds like them not doing their jobs to me Glenn, but sure, let’s equate it to people whom like to blame all of our cities problems on the unhoused without facts with whom I also get exacerbated with 🙄
The police in this town are in a no win situation. If they intervene defund them, if they don’t they are worthless. The police sit out these situations in many cities because they are always outnumbered and what it would take to disperse the situation would cause harm to the spectators and themselves.
Ever heard somebody respond to this argument with a good counterpoint? Yeah, me neither … and yet, the narrative continues.
Guns are the only problem here.
Out-of-control cars can’t hurt anyone. Got it.
Our obsession with guns and cars is killing us
Yes, and I would add testosterone-fueled machismo to the list.